Hitting

The Swing

Hitting, also called spiking or attacking, is the swing you take when you are trying to put the ball on the floor. You approach, jump, and hit. A hard spike scores. So does a roll into open court, or a ball wiped off the blocker's hands. The block tells you which one to use. If you decide on the ground and never look again, you will swing into the hands they just put there.

The Approach

The approach is one of the most important aspects of hitting, as it helps understand the timing needed for a set. The last two steps known as the penultimate step are where you take a long fast stride that generates all the power into your jump as you are converting your momentum into height.

As the feet plant on your last step, the arms swing back, then you explode up to meet the ball. You do not want to just be swinging your arm as you will generate less power and will be more prone to a shoulder injury without the proper form. You want to be using your hips and core to start the turn, then the torso, shoulder, elbow, and wrist to follow.

Four-Step Approach

For a right-handed hitter attacking from the left:

1. Left foot: A slower step that helps get the timing right for the set
2. Right foot: You pick up speed.
3. Left foot: Long and fast stride that starts turning the run upward.
4. Right foot: Close it next to the left, or slightly ahead. Both feet hit, and you jump.

A right-handed hitter keeps that left-right finish on the right side of the court too. What changes is the path into the ball, not the feet. You do not switch your step pattern just because you moved pins. Left-handers mirror the whole sequence.

Three-Step Approach

The three step approach is a essentially the same but you just get rid of the extra beginning step so it would be right foot, left foot, right foot. Middles, and anyone hitting a first-tempo set, often do not have time for four steps.

Come in at an Angle

Start outside the court and move toward the set on a diagonal. From the left pin, that means starting outside the sideline and approaching toward the ball. You can see the block, and both cross-court and line are still available when you leave the ground.

If you run straight at the net, one direction is behind your body. The block knows which way you can still hit, and they only have to take that one.

The Arm Swing

As you jump, both arms drive up. At the top, the hitting arm draws back with the elbow high, hand near your ear. The other arm reaches toward the ball so you can track it. While drawing your swing you should feel the swing if your hips, core, torso, and shoulder all working together to create a strong fluid motion swing.

Try picturing the swing as a whip like chain reaction so that as you release your arm is loosening up and your wrist is snapping like putting your hand in a cookie jar.

Contact the ball at full arm extension, slightly in front of your hitting shoulder. Hand open, fingers spread, more palm than fingertips. Snap the wrist over the top so the ball spins forward. Topspin brings the ball down inside the court. A flat hit flies on a line and often lands long. Topspin is what lets you swing hard and still keep it in.

Let the arm keep going after contact. Stopping the swing at the ball leaves pace in your arm and puts more stress on the shoulder. Land on both feet when you can, then move into coverage. If you stay planted to watch the ball, a block deflection drops behind you.

Which Shot, Once You Can See Them

Look at the block before you leave the ground, and check it again in the air. The set may have moved, and so may the blockers.

A power cross-court swing goes across your body toward the far corner. It is the longest diagonal on the court, so you have the most floor and the most room for a ball that is a little off. For a lot of hitters this is the swing they trust, and the one the block will try to take away first.

A line shot goes down the sideline, past the outside blocker's hands. Turn your shoulders a little and contact the ball farther outside your body. The court is shorter this way, so the margin is smaller. If the block does not have the line, it is a hard ball to dig, because the defender in the cross-court seam is in the wrong place.

A cut, or a sharp angle, is a cross-court ball that lands shorter, around the attack line on the other side. Snap across the outside of the ball. Defenders who are sitting deep watch it land in front of them. Use it when they are backing up to cover your hard swing.

A tip or a roll goes over the block into open space. Open hand, push or roll the ball short, or into a deep corner the defender left. Use it when the block is big and the hard swing has nowhere to go. A tip you decided before you saw the block is just a slow ball into a defender who was waiting for it.

A wipe, sometimes called tooling the block, is a swing into the outside edge of the blocker's hands so the ball deflects out. You score even though the block was up. Hitters who can wipe stop having to beat every block clean. Aim for the outside hand, the one nearest the antenna, and swing through that hand.

Timing

Timing is when you start, relative to the ball arriving in your hitting window.

Leave too early and you are coming down when you hit it. You lose height, and the ball goes into the net or sits up. Leave too late and the ball is past you. You swing on the way up, or you reach behind your head. On time, you meet the ball at the top of the jump, arm extended, with the block still in view.

On a high ball, wait until it peaks, then go. On a medium or faster set, start as the setter contacts it. On a quick, start before the setter contacts, and trust the location you rep in practice. If the set is tight to the net, you may have to adjust the last steps wider so you can still swing down. If it is off the net, take a deeper path and be willing to hit high and deep, or roll, instead of trying to bounce a ball you are under.

From Each Spot

Outside, on the Left

Four-step approach from outside the left sideline. You have the widest range of shots, you usually get the most sets, and you are the person who hits when the pass is ugly. More on the outside hitter.

Opposite, on the Right

The approach starts outside the right sideline and still finishes with your normal plant. For a right-hander, cross-court from this side is to your left, and the line is on your right. Sets here are often faster because the setter is close, so the approach starts earlier than it feels like it should. More on the opposite.

Middle

Three-step approach, usually a quick in front of the setter or a slide behind them. A slide is often a one-foot takeoff moving along the net. Speed and timing matter more than a huge backswing, because the ball is not in the air long enough for one. More on the middle blocker.

Back Row

If you are in the back row, you can attack as long as you take off from behind the attack line. You may land in front of the line. That part is legal. The fault is taking off on or in front of the line and contacting the ball while it is entirely above the net.

The approach starts farther off the net, so you have a longer swing and less angle. A pipe is the common back-row set from the middle of the court. A bic is the back-row set from the right. A set to the back-row left, sometimes called a D, is the same idea from the other pin. Call the name your team uses, and know that the foot has to leave the floor behind the line.

Swings That Hit the Net, or the Block

Finishing under the ball means you cannot swing down. Leave enough room that contact is in front of you, even if that means letting a tight set go and taking the next one.

A straight approach at the net takes away half your shots. Come in from outside.

A low elbow on the draw-back means you hit under the ball. Keep the elbow at about ear height until the arm starts forward.

No topspin, and hard swings sail long or get dug easily because they float. Snap over the ball.

If you only swing hard to the same corner, the block will sit there and the digger will stand behind it. Add a tip, a roll, and a wipe so that corner is not your only answer.

Some hitters call the shot on the floor and then close their eyes. See the block in the air, then swing at what is actually there.

How to Practice

Do the approach with no ball. Work the rhythm, the long plant step, the arm swing up, and a two-foot takeoff. A pile of approaches in a day will make the pattern show up when you are tired. If the last two steps sound even, like a jog, slow the first steps down and speed the last two up.

In hitting lines, take one shot at a time. A round of cross-court, a round of line, a round of tips. Mix them after each one has a shape. Against a block, or a pair of pads standing in for one, read it. Block to your outside, hit inside. Block split, hit the seam or wipe a hand. Block solid, tip behind it or wipe the outside hand.

At a wall, you can groove the arm swing and the wrist snap without a court. Stand far enough away that you are hitting down, and listen for the same contact sound. A different sound every swing means the hand is meeting the ball in a different place.

If you can film a few swings, check three things. Did you approach on an angle. How high was the contact relative to your reach. Did the elbow stay high on the way back. You will not feel a short contact the way the video shows it.